Week in Review: Interesting developments

This week, we have big new game announcements and release date revelations for games in some well-regarded franchises.

TOP STORY: Elder Scrolls Online coming in 2013

Elder Scrolls has been rumored to be the subject of Zenimax Online’s MMO-in-progress for years, though nothing concrete had ever been released, until this week. Elder Scrolls Online has been in secret development since 2007, and is scheduled for a release in 2013. While nothing about the gameplay or story specifics have been revealed, we do know that it will take place during the time when the daedric prince, Molag Bal, is attempting to destroy the world, about 1,000 years before Skyrim‘s events. It will also cover the entirety of Tamriel, including Cyrodiil, Skyrim and Morrowind, the previous provinces we’ve seen.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II arriving November 13

In an announcement pretty much everyone expected to happen eventually, Activision has finally officially revealed the next Call of Duty game to be Black Ops II, and it will arrive on November 13, almost exactly a year after the last Call of Duty title. It will be set during a future war with futuristic weapons and will apparently take place worldwide, as locations in China, America, Japan, and Afghanistan have been revealed. As usual, it will be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Company of Heroes 2 finally under development

Company of Heroes was released to critical acclaim six years ago as a different, but great, real-time strategy game that covered the events of World War II on the Western front. THQ finally greenlit a sequel for release next year, with a focus on the Eastern front of World War II this time around. The story will follow a war correspondent around as the Eastern front develops, and the gameplay will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor.

Persona 4: The Golden to be localized this fall

The portable remake of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 on the Vita was announced last year in Japan, though at the time no mention was made of an English localization happening. Fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief though, as the long-hoped-for localization is under way, with a release scheduled for this fall. In addition to higher-quality graphics, Atlus is adding a new character named Mary, additional cutscenes and new voicework as well.